The Shadows in Between
by Pixel Brony
Summary: The children of the darkest enemies have escaped their individual parents. But with possibilities of betrayal from any side they're always unsure as they waver between the Darkness and the Light. Chris is the son of Crota, Athena the daughter of Atheon, Ceres the son of Skolas and Valerie the daughter of Valus Trau'ug. The OCs are mine and the rest of Destiny belongs to Bungie.
1. Chapter 1: Chat with the Light

The Bane of the Dark Gods flew alongside the Aspect of Glass heading towards Earth. Chris, the pilot of the Bane of the Dark Gods, stayed silent as he flew with Valerie standing behind him in silence. Athena and Ceres were in the Aspect of Glass together talking about what all four of them had finally done. It was a terrifying fight for each of them to unite and escape their parents. Now the even riskier part of their plan was about to go into effect.

Chris knew Valerie well after all the times they had communicated, as well as communicating with Ceres and Athena. They knew the plan made by Athena and Valerie might work but they were all unsure of what would happen when they got close to the City.

Chris opened up the communications between their ships, "Athena, Ceres, you doing okay in there?" he asked just to make sure.

"Chris, we're fine, can you please stop asking so many times, we know you like to be a leader and all but you're being more concerned than usual," Athena replied with slight annoyance.

"Well we're getting closer and closer to the City, why else would he be asking?" Valerie said.

"I'm ready to try this out, maybe we'll have a chance that the Traveler won't shoot us down," Ceres said without worry.

"I hope not, follow my ship," Chris said starting to go into Earth's atmosphere and heading for the large clouds surrounding the City that were charged with lightning.

Almost immediately Chris' ship was hit by lightning. He quickly switched the communications channel to the one he knew was for the City since Athena had figured it all out. "Mayday mayday, anyone at the Tower, we got hit, we have two ships and we need a place to land before we crash into the City!" Chris shouted into the mic hoping for a response.

"This is Holliday, how close are you to the City?" the Shipwright at the Tower asked.

"Well we're about 6 seconds in the cloud, we don't know how far that is since it's our first time to the City, where's the place to land?!" Chris shouted knowing they had only three seconds before they could slow down.

"Land in the Hangar, I'm clearing it out right now," Holliday said clearing it out.

"Chris what are we doing?!" Athena shouted getting hit by more lightning.

"Land in the Hangar, we're breaking through in 3, 2, 1, break!" Chris shouted going through what appeared to be the end of the cloud and immediately heading for the Hangar. "Valerie, switch the controls to patrol, fast!"

"On it!" Valerie said switching multiple controls to slow the ship. The ship immediately slowed enough so that they could pull into the Hangar safely.

"We're in patrol mode too," Ceres said on the comms.

"We're gonna get a small crowd of Guardians so be careful with how you act guys," Athena said knowing how bad it could go.

"Let's introduce ourselves," Chris said before switching to Tower comms. "We're pulling in now, we'll be careful," he said slowly going in the Hangar. The Aspect of Glass pulled in alongside his and the ships turned off after being correctly positioned.

Chris and Valerie got out of the Bane of the Dark Gods as Athena and Ceres got out of the Aspect of Glass. Both ships looked like they had taken a beating from the Traveler as they went through what took down most Fallen and Hive ships.

"That was a close call," Ceres said smiling.

"Yeah, let's go meet the Speaker now that we survived," Athena said looking at the crowd of Guardians.

"Let's go," Chris said walking forward and through the crowd that backed off as he walked as if he had a dark aura, and the same could be said for the others.

The four of them walked through the main area into the place where the Speaker stayed. He looked down at some reports before he faced them. His face was covered by his simple yet elegant armor and his posture changed as if he were uneasy.

"I can see that you are not Guardians. You seem very corrupted, so I ask one thing: who are you, and what is your purpose here?" the Speaker asked still maintaining his monotone voice in spite of his nervousness.

"I am Chris, son of Crota, who is the son of the Taken King," Chris said.

"I am Athena, daughter of Atheon, Time's Conflux," Athena said.

"The name is Ceres, son of Skolas, Kell of Kells," Ceres said.

"And I am Valerie, daughter of Valus Trau'ug, leader of the Broken Legion," Valerie said.

"So you four are children of some of the darkest enemies we have. If that is so, how did you get through the barrier surrounding the City, and how did you four escape from your individual parents?" the Speaker said interested.

"We barely made it through the barrier. The only reason I can think of for us being able to pass through completely is that we are not completely corrupted by the Darkness. Each one of us have met each other several times before now, as we could travel to meet with each other. Our parents saw it as a possible alliance of all the dark armies, but now they are probably wanting a chance to kill each other accusing the others of treachery," Athena explained.

"Then why did you come here, do you believe that we could protect you?" the Speaker said not as nervous anymore.

"We wish to fight against the Darkness as an ally to you. It goes against every instinct we have and we refuse to listen to them. If any of our parents decided to attack we could be the difference between victory and the Light being stamped out," Valerie explained with a very definitive tone.

"I know now that since you have admitted to wanting a chance to join us you may be able to pass through the barrier without harm. But I cannot guarantee it. You may need to communicate with the Traveler directly as I do, it will be a challenge for you four. Do you believe you can handle it?" the Speaker said with concern for them.

"Each one of us broke away from some of the most hateful beings. We've got this," Ceres replied confidently.

"Very well. You must close your eyes and will your Light, or in this case your Darkness, to the Traveler's soul. I wish you the best of luck," the Speaker informed them.

"Let's go," Chris said closing his eyes with the other three doing the same.

They each felt their souls drift further from their bodies as they went to speak with the Traveler. When they opened their eyes they were inside the Traveler, not within their own bodies. The sound of footsteps brought the four's attention to behind them, where a woman with solar orange hair, purple eyes that drew all of their attention and an electric blue dress was walking towards them looking unhappy.

"You four should not be permitted here. If you have a reason for coming to speak with me then please make haste with it. It takes more strength than one may think to speak with you," the woman said.

"We came to speak with the spirit of the Traveler, because we may be children of the Darkness but we could be the only thing that could save the Light from a massive attack by the Darkness," Chris explained.

"And what makes you believe that you could convince me that you are here to protect me?" the apparent spirit of the Traveler questioned.

"Because we know how our parents will act, and how to fight against some of the most powerful legions. We possess the ability to cut every last dark soldier down that stands before us. And if we wanted to harm you we would've just flown our ships right into you possibly causing lots of harm to you," Valerie explained.

"Perhaps you could be helpful fighting against my ancient enemy. If I do let you pass through the barrier the same way all Guardians do so that you won't be hunted down, I only ask of one thing from you. Please try not to corrupt the Guardians by accident, I don't know what could happen if any were corrupted by you, some were corrupted before and betrayed us before being defeated in the end. I don't want you four turning on us," the Traveler explained.

"We don't betray anyone who won't betray us. When we're on the same side we stick to it, unlike my dad, so you just have to worry about your Guardians asking us to do stuff for them that might be bad," Ceres replied.

"Very well. You may come and go to the City as much as you want unless you betray us. I'm putting a lot of trust in you four in the hopes that I could someday regain the power that the Darkness took from me. Good luck to you in getting along with the Guardians," the Traveler said with finality before she waved her hand and the four were in their own bodies and facing the Speaker again.

"Well, we got her trust. Where will we be staying?" Athena asked the Speaker.

"I think it's best if you are in some private barracks, just for the four of you. I can have the Vanguard escort you there, they are the most trusted Guardians other than me. Watch that the factions don't influence you, they seem to not have faith in what gave them the Light,. And I believe a fitting name for your group would be the Shadows," the Speaker told them before summoning the Vanguard.

As they were escorted to their barracks, Ikora Rey, the Warlock Vanguard, asked them if they could show the Vanguard what they were capable of in the Crucible the next day, to get an idea of how powerful they could be as a unit. They agreed to have the new team of the Shadows go against the Vanguard and Lord Shaxx in a Skirmish match with fireteams of 4. They would fight in Twilight Gap, which would certainly prove an interesting battle with revival of the Shadows through the Darkness they had been born with and the experience along with the Light that the Vanguard's team had. Tomorrow was the beginning of their true recruitment, and a chance to prove how powerful they were.


	2. Chapter 2: Strength of Shadows

**Author's Note:** Hey, I wanna say a few things based on the few reviews, favorites and follows this story got. First of all thank you everyone who liked the first chapter, you people are the reason stories are made, because you're open to any ideas. And to the reviews, I understand the slight confusion around how Atheon, Skolas, Crota, and Valus Trau'ug got kids. Well here's the explanation, they are a lot like super-weapon flunkies that were supposed to be the perfect weapon of each race because of their free will, Crota gave Chris some powers of the Hive which will be shown later in the fight scene, and the same is said for Athena with powers of the Vex, Ceres with powers of the Fallen and Valerie with powers of the Cabal. It's a lot to wrap a mind around, which is why I'm stating that they're not biologically related to their parents. They were made from the Darkness itself to be the perfect way to take down the Light, but of course the free will part of the weapons made it tricky. Also, the Traveler spirit thing and her having colors of the elements in weapons was something I thought was interesting because I imagine her being a powerful spirit trapped in an inanimate object, and she barely has any defense except for those who are worthy to use the Light. And something I point out later is that the Shadows are teenagers, please don't try to think about it too much since this is a mere fanfiction. One final thing, to those who dislike this because it's not canon, please take the time to remember that this is a fanfiction, it's not meant to be canon, all fanfictions are for is to make special characters and fun ways to twist a story, it doesn't need to be canon to be enjoyable and to spread creative ideas through stories. I hope this lengthy Author's Note cleared up any confusion, if anyone has questions about the Shadows, or any other part of the fanfiction please don't hesitate to ask, all reviews are welcome. And if this Author's Note sucks please say it so I do better with other ones.

The Shadows walked alongside the Vanguard to the Hangar as both groups were prepared for battle. Many Guardians in the Tower were excited or nervous as this was a new kind of battle and many of them could watch, with the Speaker getting a front row seat as he would watch closely for how much danger they could pose to both the Light and the Darkness. The leaders of Future War Cult, New Monarchy and Dead Orbit were curious about the battle as well. Lord Saladin, a Lord of the Iron Banner and Lord Shaxx's mentor, would oversee the battle as the temporary announcer for special and heavy ammo.

"Good luck to you, you're going to need it," Cayde-6, mentor of the Hunters said to the Shadows.

"Don't underestimate us, we know what we're capable of," Ceres replied as confident as Cayde-6.

"This will be one of the most interesting battles I've participated in for a long time," Lord Shaxx said.

"I'll make sure it stays that way," Valerie said ready for anything.

"Let's go," Chris said bringing himself and the other Shadows to the Twilight Gap using the Bane of Dark Gods.

The Shadows appeared in a more open area of the Twilight Gap without their armor on as they usually didn't want to wear it. Lord Saladin then spoke through the earpieces that both the Shadows and the Vanguard have, "Shadows, the Speaker requests that the four of you put on your armor for this fight since it will be lethal without it."

"Alright, then here we go," Athena said. She closed her eyes and darkness started collecting in small chunks around her body, then the darkness faded to reveal hundreds of silver mechanical pieces, which began attaching to Athena's body. The silver continued to fuse and morph around her body until they formed armor similar to Vex robots but still showed she was a person on the inside of the armor.

"My turn," Ceres went next. He closed his eyes and darkness started collecting in some larger chunks, which came onto him to form white and cyan armor that looked similar to a Captain's armor but had some major customizations just for him. He also had a few knives on his waist for when he had to get close and personal.

"Gearing up," Valerie said. She closed her eyes and darkness was forming in even larger chunks than Ceres' armor did, and they looked similar to a Cabal's armor with symbols of authority and power. The armor was a blazing bronze and red and it demanded respect from all.

"And then me," Chris said keeping his eyes open. The darkness completely covered him in millions of little pieces until it faded away and he was in armor that was green and black, and it was close to Crota's looks with some parts of the armor for enhancing the abilities that Chris hadn't completely mastered.

The Shadows stood, ready for battle, radiating with darkness, they were a true force to be reckoned with. Most of the Guardians watching from the Tower's Crucible monitors were nervous or terrified at seeing this kind of power from just the armor. The Speaker wasn't concerned as much as the rest were, as he just watched without moving a muscle. Behind him the faction leaders were discussing how they could use this to their advantages.

"Impressive, Shadows. That kind of armor demands respect, and I like it. Now go and fight the Vanguard, remember that they are highly skilled and you must work together," Lord Saladin explained to the Shadows.

"Thanks. Ceres, you go invisible and flank them, if you're at a distance use your Queenbreakers' Bow. Valerie and I will go head-on, Athena, be ready to watch our backs and get us back up if we go down. Ready, go!" Chris ordered before they split off into different directions.

Ceres ran over to a small sniping position and pulled out his Queenbreakers' Bow using the Marksman Scope as he went completely invisible like a Vandal. He spotted Commander Zavala, Lord Shaxx and Ikora Rey going across the middle. "Hey, Ceres here, I see all but the Hunter going straight through the middle, I'll take down the Warlock," Ceres informed before charging up the Bow and shooting Ikora Rey in the head zapping her to nothing.

"Going in," Chris said charging forward with Valerie. Valerie pulled out The Last Word and quickly fired at Lord Shaxx while Chris used the Murmur on Commander Zavala.

"Where's the Hunter?" Ceres asked.

"I see him," Athena said proceeding to fire at the cloaked Hunter with the Vex Mythoclast. Cayde-6 burned until there was nothing left of him after the rapid Solar blasts that came out of the Mythoclast.

"We got the jump on them, but I thought they were good," Ceres remarked.

"Don't underestimate them. They're mentors for a good reason," Valerie reminded him.

"I'll move up," Chris informed them before moving forward with Thorn. He rounded the corner and got killed by a shotgun from Lord Shaxx.

"Hiding around the corner? Where's the honor in that?" Valerie questioned before pulling out The Last Word. She jumped high surprising Shaxx and fired four shots directly to the head killing him as Athena revived Chris with darkness.

"Ceres, you may need to get in here, something tells me that they know where you are and you'll get ambushed soon," Athena said through the comms.

"Roger that, I'll cloak and join up," Chris replied before disappearing entirely and running over to them with some crazy stealth. "I'm here, what's our next move."

"If we all have our strongest attacks ready we should split up, corner them and unleash them all at once. That will make us win the match in record time," Valerie explained.

"Great strategy Valerie. I will go after Commander Zavala, Athena, go after Ikora Rey. Ceres, you go after Cayde-6 and Valerie you go after Lord Shaxx. Corner them into that building over there," Chris ordered pointing at the building where Zone B would appear in a match of Control.

The team split up to find their individual targets. The Speaker was impressed by the strategy of the Shadows when they worked together as a unit for taking out powerful targets, as was Lord Saladin. The faction leaders and the crowd of Guardians watching were studying their strategy for ideas in the Crucible as well.

Athena spotted Ikora Rey near the same place the Shadows entered from. She fired two shots at her using her Fatebringer causing Ikora to Glide away towards the sniping position Ceres had taken up earlier. "You know you can't get away," Athena said chasing her and firing several shots with Vision of Confluence.

Ceres found Cayde-6 by where Zone C would have been. He fired several shots using Dreg's Promise and Lord of Wolves to force him over to B without a chance of him firing back. "Can't outrun a wolf!" Ceres shouted at Cayde-6 as he chased him.

Valerie found Lord Shaxx in the lower areas of the Twilight Gap. She fired two shots using the Boolean Gemini before using ricochet rounds from Hard Light to force him towards B. "This strategy is one you cannot outsmart," Valerie muttered as she played her part.

Chris ended up finding Commander Zavala at the location where the attack would take place. "You made it too easy Zavala. Now you and the others have fallen into our trap," Chris said as the other mentors joined Zavala and they were all cornered.

"Darkness, bring forth my weapon!" Each of the Shadows shouted at once drawing out their power into their strongest weapons. Athena summoned a Shield of Glass, Ceres summoned a Scorch Cannon, Valerie summoned her weapon known as the Tri-Elemental Laser and Chris summoned a Sword of Crota. As the Vanguard tried to escape Valerie fired one shot of the Tri-Elemental Laser that created an Arc, Solar and Void wall at each entrance. Ceres fired a shot of the Scorch Cannon that stuck to the wall behind the Vanguard as it began to charge up for a greater blow. Athena activated the "bubble shield" function so the Vanguard couldn't get out by force as Chris got ready to charge in. The projectile from the Scorch Cannon exploded as Chris jumped in, slamming his sword into the ground with the combined blows finishing the Vanguard off.

"Stop, stop! This fight is over, the Shadows won! Vanguard, Lord Shaxx, do not be ashamed, this is our first time seeing what the Shadows are capable of. All of you return to home, the Speaker would like to speak with the Shadows and Ikora Rey." Lord Saladin said ending the match.

"Understood. Returning to ship now," Chris said before the Shadows vanished into the Bane of Dark Gods and returned.

Back at the Tower many Guardians looked at the Shadows with a mixture of awe and fear as they walked to the Speaker with Ikora Rey. The Speaker was sitting down at a table with five other chairs that the Shadows and Ikora sat down it.

"That was a very interesting match. Normally I would prefer not to watch fights in the Crucible but this was a great way to show me what the four of you are capable of," the Speaker said to the Shadows.

"Thank you. It was a great way for us to practice as well," Athena replied.

"Ikora, what was it like feeling the power of their Darkness in their final blow?" the Speaker asked.

"It felt like raw power that you cannot escape, when we became trapped in every way possible I truly feared for both my life and my Light. I didn't anticipate their powers to be so developed and that they could bring a final blow in such a short amount of time. They could take out targets that have been troubling the Vanguard for years," Ikora explained.

"I agree. Depending on what race the target is one of us could be a leader, for example I know Cabal strategies and how to get past their defenses so I would be a great leader against them," Valerie said.

"Then it's settled. We can arrange for you to get familiar with others around the Tower this week and for your presence to not unnerve any Guardians. We shall announce your arrival to the City after your first mission. Is there anything you would like at this moment?" the Speaker said before asking the Shadows.

"We'd like to have new clothes. What we got before we put our armor on was rather uncomfortable and we don't want to just wear our armor around the Tower or the City all the time. Although each of us managed to escape some of the darkest evils, the four of us are all around the same age, about 16 or 17 years old. We can tell you what clothes we want later," Chris explained.

"Of course. I will have that arranged soon, you may go eat if you wish," the Speaker said.

The Shadows proceeded to stand up and walk out of the room. They had a meal that Ceres wolfed down and later they talked with the Vanguard and Lord Shaxx about their Crucible match and how they formulated the strategies for beating the wise mentors. Chris, Athena, Ceres and Valerie then proceeded to the Hangar to find something they didn't expect.


	3. Chapter 3: New Looks and Sudden Pressure

The Shadows walked in the Hangar to see that something big changed. In the area where there was once a Vanguard Quartermaster, there were now four magnificent vehicles. Amanda Holliday was currently working on the one that looked like it was themed for Chris.

"Whoa, what is this thing?!" Ceres asked as he ran over to what had a similar build to a Pike.

Holliday looked up at him and smiled. "That's what I built for you Ceres, it's something based off of regular and Heavy Pikes that I've heard about from other Guardians. It can switch between the two fires modes and pop out mines from the boosters on the back, and it goes at the normal Pike speed for as long as you want with no need to recharge it," she explained.

"And this looks like an Interceptor, but smaller," Valerie said walking over to what was very similar to an Interceptor.

"Smaller, faster, and with more firepower. It has the ability to shoot smaller shots from the cannons on it at the same time for faster fire rate, as well as the standard firepower. But the third fire rate on there is both cannons firing large shots at once, it takes a bit longer to fire your next shot after using it though. And the boost is upgraded so you can travel farther and faster with each boost, and the recharge thing was changed just like Ceres' vehicle," Holliday said.

"You put quite a bit of work into these vehicles. The fact that you managed to make an Interceptor that has even more firepower and can move quicker is impressive," Valerie complimented.

"Thank you, it wasn't easy to plan it out. I usually don't do this kind of thing for anybody, but considering that you're probably going to go on some really risky missions and I give a vehicle to every Guardian you'll need more than just speed," Holliday replied.

"I'm going to assume this vehicle is mine," Athena said pointing at something similar to an XV0-Timebreaker.

"Oh, now this one was ridiculous to put weapons on. It's the fastest vehicle out of the four here, and I had to calibrate the vehicle a few times just because of its speed. It has energy weapons similar to the Torch Hammers you see Minotaurs carry around as well as an attack that forces an energy field to suddenly burst around it, whenever something hostile gets hit by that field they are dead, no matter what," Holliday said.

"Why did she get the coolest one…" Ceres muttered.

"I really like the design, thanks Holliday," Athena said.

"It's no problem, but the most powerful out of these four is Chris'. It's similar to an S-13 Graverobber, and it's devastating. It can fire large Void blasts that home in on targets as well as ram right through any hostiles with one hit, whether they're weakened or not. It's as deadly as the Hive," Holliday said.

"It's only fitting that it's designed in such a way. Would you like anything since you did this for us?" Chris asked.

"Completely unnecessary, I thought this is what you would need for whatever the Speaker and the Vanguard would send you out to do," Holliday said.

"Well thank you, can you transmat them into the Bane of Dark Gods and Aspect of Glass?" Chris asked.

"Sure, I'll get that done soon," Holliday said.

The Shadows walked out of the Hangar and were met by the leader of Dead Orbit, who had a somewhat grim face.

"Shadows, I am Arach Jalaal, the leader of Dead Orbit, a faction of the City that has lost belief in the power of the Traveler and wishes to recover anything we can find to escape the war between the Traveler and the darkness. I wish to make a request of the four of you. If you happen to fight the Vex on Venus during a mission for the Vanguard, we'd be pleased if you recovered an artifact from them for us. It could be what we need for our mission," he requested.

"That depends on what it is and how heavily it's being protected," Athena said.

"It won't be too hard for the four of you. I think your abilities are perfect for whatever we need you to do. I hope you think about it, Dead Orbit is a great ally to have on your side. The only hope for the ones I lead is you," he replied before walking past them.

"He's making an interesting offer, yet doesn't explain how Dead Orbit could help us. If they prove useful then I have no problem with having them as an ally, but until then we should wait before making a decision on it," Valerie said.

"Why don't we just do what we were going to do after checking up on our ships, which was get better clothes than what we have on?" Ceres asked.

They all looked down at what they were wearing, with each of their current outfits still a bit dirty and ragged from when they were with their parents. The four of them looked like teens from the 2000's that were in alleyways.

"I agree, let's go ahead and write down what clothes we want for when we're not in our armor. We can do that in our barracks," Chris said before they walked to their barracks. They all wrote down what they wanted and headed to Eva Levante, who was able to make the clothes within the hour.

"Thank you," Chris said as he got his outfit.

"Oh it's no problem, I make Shaders and Emblems for Guardians which is much harder than this, I'm happy to do my job," Levante replied.

The four of them went to their individual barracks and put their outfits on. Chris now had a black jacket on as well as a green t-shirt, and was also wearing jeans. Athena had a white t-shirt as well as a silver jacket and jeans. Ceres had a light blue t-shirt with the House of Wolves symbol on it and a darker blue jacket and jeans. Valerie had cargo pants, a t-shirt and a yellow vest.

When they all walked out of their barracks they looked at each other and smiled for the first time in a long time. The Shadows were in a category of their own and nobody else could ever be like them.

They walked out of their barracks and Lakshmi-2, leader of the Future War Cult, approached them. "Excuse me, I believe you four are the Shadows who everyone here has been talking about. I am Lakshmi-2, leader of the Future War Cult. I understand that Arach Jalaal wanted you to recover an artifact. You should know that it's actually a war machine that the Future War Cult could use when the next great battle between us and the darkness arrives. If you don't give it to us nothing good will come out of it for you," She said before walking away.

"I see why the Traveler was so worried about the factions, we might need to be careful when it comes to taking sides," Athena said.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm not gonna let them change my mind about anything, in fact how about we go find this war machine, grab it, and just keep it away from them?" Ceres said before the other three looked at him. "What'd I say?"

"That's actually a great idea Ceres," Chris said.

"You freaking genius Ceres," Athena said,patting him on the back.

"Um, I'm just using my instincts since that's what I am best at," Ceres said smiling.

"When we have to do stuff like this just make sure you give us some ideas like that," Valerie said.

The speakers turned on in the Tower just then. "Shadows, report to the Hall of Guardians," Commander Zavala said on the speakers.

"You heard him, let's get going," Chris said as they walked to the Hall of Guardians. Little did they know their first mission was ahead of schedule. Way ahead of schedule.


	4. Chapter 4: A New Ally

The Shadows walked into the Hall of Guardians to see Commander Zavala, Ikora Rey, Cayde-6 and Executor Hideo from New Monarchy looking at a hologram of something similar to an Exo.

"Thank you for coming, guys. This is Executor Hideo of New Monarchy, he is the leader for those who want a new person in power besides the Speaker, one that will listen to the people of the City," Cayde-6 said gesturing to him.

"We need something important, Shadows. It's quite a big request, which is why we voted for you to go instead of a normal Fireteam," Executor Hideo said.

"How big is the request?" Ceres asked.

"You will have to fight an entire army of Vex to recover a powerful machine from the Golden Age. It's similar to a Warmind but it resembles an Exo more than anything," Commander Zavala replied.

"Great, so it looks like I'll have to lead this mission," Athena said not entirely happy about the Vex part.

"We know that you were supposed to get acquainted with the others in the Tower first, but this was something that is rather urgent. Please recover the machine, it could either be a great weapon for us or a terrifying leader of the Vex," Ikora Rey replied.

"Fine, anything to stop my dad from trying to gain the edge he needs for me to go back to him," Athena said.

"You should drop in by the Ember Caves, it's the closest you can get to the army without dying straight away," Cayde-6 informed them.

"You'll have the support of the City if you do this for us," Executor Hideo said.

"Noted. We'll return with it," Valerie replied before they walked to the Hangar.

"Can't help but feel like the three factions all want the same exact thing. My only question is why they all want it," Chris said.

"We'll find out as soon as we get it. Remember to follow my lead against the Vex," Athena said.

"Oh fine, I suppose I can listen to your orders," Ceres said following her into the Aspect of Glass.

"This will be very different from what we normally do, won't it?" Valerie asked Chris as they walked into the Bane of Dark Gods.

"Maybe, we all have to trust Athena for this mission though, she's the only one out of us four that truly knows the Vex. I'm just hoping that we can cover each other's backs well enough to get this machine," Chris replied sitting in the pilot seat.

They flew towards Venus and got dropped in by the Ember Caves, with no enemies in sight. Athena looked around before pointing in the direction of the Citadel. "There's a large mass of Vex energy coming from that direction. The army must have went past the Ember Caves and killed anything in sight," she said.

"Wait you can detect the Vex energies?" Chris asked.

"It's a useful ability I have, it really helped when I was trying to get out of the Gorgon's Labyrinth in the Vault of Glass. That labyrinth… it could drive some people insane trying to get in or out of it," Athena replied before summoning her armor and vehicle. "Now let's go, and I don't want to talk about the Vault unless necessary," she said before speeding away.

"Wait up Athena!" Ceres yelled as the others summoned their armor and vehicles as well and followed her.

They found the Vex army marching by the Citadel in massive numbers, some carrying a statue-like machine that was about 5'7" and looked like it was made of some of the most durable materials imaginable. Commanding the army was a Gate Lord that looked over every single part of the army at once from its single eye.

"Well, there's the machine. What's the plan Athena?" Ceres asked.

"Simple. Get the machine and kill any Vex that try to get in your way," Athena replied before activating the boost on her vehicle heading straight for the army.

"Guys, this might seem reckless but Athena probably knows what she's doing, follow her lead," Chris said with authority before they followed Athena.

Some of the Vex looked to the right to see the Shadows charging straight at them and made alarming noises causing the entire army to look. The Shadows fired the weapons from their vehicles, destroying about a sixth of the army in mere seconds. Ceres used the rapid fire on his vehicle to electrify many of the Goblins while Valerie used her massive firepower to take down the Minotaurs. Athena went straight through any Hobgoblins that attempted to put their defenses before firing Void blasts at Harpies, and Chris rushed past the Hydra shields and punched them super hard in their eyes.

As the Vex recovered from the initial surprise of such a small force attacking them they started to fight back, destroying the vehicles that the Shadows were riding and then laying down heavy fire on all four. They were about to overwhelm the Shadows when Athena looked at a Goblin dead in the eye and they all stopped when they saw the Vex-like armor. The Vex experienced fear for the first time.

Athena brought out the Fatebringer and shot several Goblins in their weak points before pulling out Praedyth's Revenge and shooting down any Hobgoblins. Valerie pulled out Hard Light and fired at the Minotaurs with upgraded Void rounds before pulling out the Sleeper Simulant and firing a shot straight through several Harpies. Ceres shot straight through some nearby Harpies with the Dreg's Promise and Chris used Necrochasm to shoot through Goblins and cause several explosions from the precision kills.

All of their weapons ran out of ammo. "Athena, we're out of ammo, what's the next part of your big plan?!" Valerie yelled as the Vex advanced.

"Summon your weapons of Darkness, they're the only way we'll be able to stay here and cut straight to the statue!" Athena yelled summoning her Shield of Glass and activating the barrier function.

"Alright, guess I'll scorch them!" Ceres yelled summoning his Scorch Cannon and firing a few blasts.

"Athena, hate to say it but we gotta go up, if we do that then we can all land next to the statue!" Chris told Athena.

"Fine, you guys first!" Athena replied.

Ceres closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them with the irises now purple as he started levitating upwards. Valerie ran a little bit before jumping up and landing next to Ceres at a high level. Chris merely stood there before leathery black wings came out of his back and he flew higher than Valerie and Ceres with his sword in hand. Athena got rid of her barrier and slammed her Shield of Glass down killing the rapidly approaching Vex before flying upwards using the jet boots on her armor.

"Ok, I will go for the Gate Lord with Ceres, Chris and Valerie, go get the statue!" Athena ordered before firing a blast from her Shield of Glass towards the Gate Lord.

"Got it!" Valerie replied before jumping down and firing her Tri-Elemental Laser at all of the Vex near the statue.

The statue dropped to the ground and Chris immediately flew by and grabbed it with one hand before slashing through an entire column of the Vex army with his sword and setting the statue down. Valerie ripped the head off of a Goblin and threw it right at a Hydra killing it before using her brute strength to beat down a Minotaur. Chris dropped right next to her and fired several Darkness Blasts out of his hands suppressing the Vex surrounding them, but the Vex continued to march forward firing at them.

Meanwhile Ceres and Athena were fighting the Gate Lord who was putting up a very good fight. Athena put down the barrier a few times to fire a shot or two from her Shield of Glass but the Gate Lord's relentless assault forced her to put the barrier back up before too long. Ceres kept firing blast after blast of the Scorch Cannon at the Gate Lord but it seemed to have minimal effect.

"Guys, I have an idea of how to take out most of the army, it's gonna take a huge Void blast though!" Chris said on the comms as he slashed down several Hobgoblins.

"Athena, try absorbing the next Void blast from the Gate Lord!" Valerie said as she kept using her Tri-Elemental Laser on the Hydras and Minotaurs.

"That was what I was gonna say but yeah try doing that!" Chris said.

"Only one way to find out!" Athena replied as she positioned herself so the blast would go straight for her. As the Gate Lord fired she took down the barrier and put her shield in front of her as the Void blast came towards her.

"Do it now Athena!" Valerie yelled as the Void blast rapidly approached her.

Athena's Shield of Glass started absorbing the massive amount of Void energy and as soon as it was all absorbed she turned around to the army. "Get out of the way!" She yelled before firing an even bigger blast towards the army which disappeared from the force of the blast.

"Wow, good job Athena!" Ceres yelled giving a thumbs up.

"I've never seen an entire army cut down by a single attack," Valerie said amazed by it.

"Hey try to give us more time before you unleash the attack on the same area we're in ok?" Chris said to Athena since he barely dived out of the blast.

"Yeah sure, but now it's time for me to take down the Gate Lord!" Athena yelled. She teleported right up to the Gate Lord's weak point and grabbed it before twisting it with the single red eye that was on her helmet glowing brightly. The Gate Lord made a sound of absolute pain before the light in its eye faded away, and as Athena pushed it away it fell to the ground completely lifeless.

"What just happened?!" The others yelled in confusion.

"I grabbed the weak point and overloaded its system, it couldn't defend itself from me," Athena said before teleporting to the statue.

"Uh, so you are able to kill most Vex just by getting into their system, that's kinda useful," Valerie said nervously.

"So, let's figure out what the heck this thing is," Ceres said tapping it with his foot.

"Hang on, I think that I can wake it up," Athena said before putting her hand on the statue's forehead and the eye on her helmet glowed again.

The statue suddenly woke up and jumped back before turning its left arm into a minigun and its right arm into a sword. "Who are you and why have you awakened me?!" The statue yelled with a bit of fear in its voice.

"I suggest you calm down. If you're willing to be peaceful then maybe we can help explain a few things to you," Chris said making his armor disappear.

"Wait, you're human, but that doesn't explain the Hive-like armor you had just now," The statue said blinking its eyes in surprise.

"Wait, it's almost like you're a human trapped inside that machine," Athena said who had taken her armor off just like the others did.

"I am Reaper, and I'm a Golden Age war machine that has a human mind, I willingly signed up for this but I didn't think I would have been shut down, I could have stopped the Collapse," Reaper replied turning his arms back to normal and looking angry with himself.

"I think that the Vex wanted to transform you into a stronger form of one of them, something that could take out Guardians in a flash. It looks like Atheon wanted to replace me," Athena said making her hands into fists.

"Hm, it seems that you are from the Darkness but you fight for the light. I find that very odd," Reaper said.

"Well we were told by the Vanguard to bring you back but I think that the factions will attempt to use you," Valerie said.

"Reaper, considering the whole thing that you're a weapon with a free will sort of like us, how about we do you a favor. We don't take you back to the City and you keep yourself safe so that we can help each other out later on," Ceres said smiling.

"That seems fair, but won't you be rebelling a little bit?" Reaper asked tilting his head.

"Yeah, it's not the first time we've done it to a greater power. I hope you will honor our deal," Chris said holding out his hand.

"Deal," Reaper replied shaking his hand before camouflaging and going away.

"Well, we made a new ally. So who wants to go back to the Tower and explain what happened to the Vanguard?" Ceres asked.

They all started laughing at the idea before Chris stopped. "Oh boy, I think that they'll be pissed but you know what Reaper isn't a statue, artifact or weapon, so I think that by saying that will be more than enough for us not to get kicked out," Chris said smiling before they all went back to the Bane of Dark Gods and Aspect of Glass and headed back towards Earth.


	5. Chapter 5: Light and Dark

**Author's Note:** Hey everyone, it's me. Sorry that I took so long to get this chapter out, I was really busy with school and it impeded my progress on this by a lot, so I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter and have a great Christmas. And if you guys want to, give me a review on what you think about the fanfiction so far, I don't mind any review whether it is good or bad.

The Shadows walked into the Hall of Guardians to see Executor Hideo and the Vanguard looking disappointed and a bit fearful. Executor Hideo became very edgy the moment he saw the Shadows.

"Shadows, you were supposed to get that machine back here. It could have been a powerful weapon to fight the Darkness and you let it go," Commander Zavala said.

"Excuse me? I think that you're a bit out of line considering that wasn't just a machine, there was a human mind within it and you were going to bend it to your will," Ceres replied.

"Now hold on Ceres. We can't blame the Vanguard, after all it was New Monarchy, Future War Cult and Dead Orbit that all wanted the same weapon for their own reasons," Athena said.

"Excuse me?! New Monarchy simply responds to the people's wishes and that is all!" Executor Hideo shouted.

"That doesn't seem to be the case. In fact it seems to me that the people of New Monarchy wants the power since the Speaker is the only one who can talk with the Traveler besides us. And Dead Orbit is just a bunch of people who are terrified but will fail in their mission. And Future War Cult isn't thinking through with their plans of war against the Darkness so if any of the factions try to use us again I will be the first to stand against it. Because we are not tools, we are people. And we happen to be people with more power than most of your Guardians," Chris explained with his hand glowing with dark energy.

"Just calm down guys. Executor Hideo, we will be thinking through your next request before sending these four back out into the field," Cayde-6 said stepping between them.

"The people of the City will remember this," Executor Hideo replied coldly.

"And we will respond accordingly," Ikora Rey said.

Executor Hideo walked out muttering a few words as he walked past the Shadows.

"I completely understand your anger," Ikora Rey said to the Shadows. "You are not weapons at all. And neither is the machine with a human mind that you had saved from the Vex. Although we could have had Reaper as a valuable ally we knew that it would be a risk to try and negotiate. I'm genuinely impressed you not only saved Reaper from the Vex but the fact that you convinced him to be an ally for the four of you truly impresses me. Golden Age machines are usually uncooperative with anybody after the Collapse."

"We had something in common. That's how stuff works," Valerie explained.

"And it certainly helps when you don't know many people," Athena said.

"Or when you just can't help but annoy people like I do," Ceres said with a smirk.

"The factions aren't gonna break our team or make us support any of them. We're going to keep our word to those we promise to help. Might sound weird from children of the Darkness but we are Shadows, so we've got better ideas than our parents. Especially when it comes to trust," Chris said.

"Heh, you're actually not that different from how we work. Believe me, I would know since I get on Ikora and Zavala's bad side more often than not," Cayde-6 said chuckling.

"Which is usually terrible but somehow Cayde-6's instinct manages to give us a victory or two. And I admit, I have respect for the fact that he can think so carelessly and do some good for the City," Ikora Rey said.

"I believe the four of you will be quite an inspiration to the City tomorrow. When you go up to the podium we have for you speaking to the ordinary citizens you may get negative looks, but rest assured that you will be fine. If you tell them what you have told us then they will welcome you as much as the Guardians," Commander Zavala said.

"Thank you. We are going to speak with the Traveler again, just to make sure that she approves of what we did on Venus today," Chris replied before they walked out with the Vanguard trying to wrap their minds around why Chris called the Traveler "she".

The Shadows walked into the same part of the Tower where the Speaker was and stood by the balcony. Once again they sent their Darkness up to the Traveler and when they opened their eyes they saw the Traveler's spirit just laying on the ground lazily.

"Excuse me, could we interrupt your laziness?" Ceres asked.

The spirit of the Traveler immediately jumped up in surprise. "I didn't expect anyone to be here while I was resting, what the heck do you four want?" she demanded crossing her arms.

"Well surely you have heard of what we did on Venus, saving a Golden Age war machine named Reaper but letting him go free since the factions of the City wanted to use him as a weapon like our parents almost did with us," Valerie explained.

"We want to know what you think about it," Athena said.

"Well it was rather smart considering he can handle himself when he's been activated, if he was deactivated when you found him then good job for activating him. In fact I feel a little bit safer knowing that he has been activated since he can handle himself against just about anything," the Traveler said before shivering. "Oh no, I think you might have actually stayed for too long. I can feel something coming this way, it will be here tomorrow afternoon if I don't stop it. I think it's a large army of the Fallen, but I can't tell for sure. All I know is that I can sense Darkness similar to what Fallen Kells possess."

"The Fallen, the Houses must have teamed up again, except they probably don't have the Wolves included. The other Kells still have a grudge against them," Ceres replied.

"It will take more than the four of you and the Guardians to push them back even without the Wolves. But I can do something to try and help you. It will drain some of the power I have but it is your only chance for survival against the army of Fallen marching towards the City," the Traveler said.

"Wait what is it? It doesn't seem necessary for you to lose some of your power, we can't do that," Chris argued.

"There is no choice! Would you rather have me die and let the Light be lost to that army?!" the Traveler yelled.

"Chris, let her do it. If it's for something that could save her, the City, and keep us away from our parents then it's all for the better," Valerie said putting a hand on Chris' shoulder.

"It will be dangerous for both you and I, but it's for everything that stands against the Darkness. If I don't do this then everyone in the City dies and you may get taken by the Darkness once again. Just trust me," the Traveler said.

The Traveler closed her eyes and a small aura of Light appeared around her. She muttered an incantation and thrust her hands towards the Shadows with a small part of her Light going to each of them. The Shadows all fell on their knees as they kept trying to will the Light into their bodies, with Chris having the most difficulty. After several minutes they finally succeeded and both the Shadows and the Traveler looked exhausted.

"Ok, you weren't lying about that being dangerous. How the heck is this going to help us?" Ceres asked.

"You have both Darkness and Light within you, that means you could be some of the most powerful creatures in the system," the Traveler started to explain. "It will be hard for you to master using both at once but I am not even going to tell the Speaker about this, so save this power for the battle. If you say anything about them beforehand then the City may be fearful of you, but if you demonstrate this power to gain victory then most will celebrate you, even if some fear you a little. I think. I still don't understand humans and Awoken and Exos completely."

"Just stop trying to understand while you're ahead, they're too complicated for anyone to understand completely," Athena said with a smirk.

"Thank you for this power. We will try to master it before the battle. Goodbye," Chris said before the Shadows brought their Darkness and their newfound Light back to their bodies.

"Let's go somewhere where we can try our newfound power without causing huge damage," Valerie said.

"Good idea. Let's go," Chris replied.

They flew to the Rusted Lands and each one of them went to a different sector of the map. Valerie went to the area where Zone C would appear with her Tri-Elemental Laser, Ceres went to the area where Zone B would appear with his Scorch Cannon, Athena went to the area where Heavy Ammo appears by the Zone B area with her Shield of Glass and Chris went to the area where Zone A appears with his sword.

Valerie went into the water a little bit and looked at her Tri-Elemental Laser. She summoned some Light, and immediately the weapon broke apart and separated the elements that were used within it. The Arc energy went to her back, the Solar Energy went to her forearms and onto her shoulders, and the Void energy went to her legs, and they each began to turn into weapons. The Arc energy became contained in a cannon on her back that was easily supported by Valerie's strength. The Solar energy became surrounded by two maulers on her arms and thrusters on her shoulders. The Void energy became part of two powerful pieces of leg armor that looked powerful enough to cause a large shockwave. "Wow, this is amazing…" Valerie muttered in awe of the weapons created with the help of the Light.

Athena stood by where the Heavy Ammo was under the mostly crumbled building and looked at her Shield of Glass. As soon as she summoned some Light it split in two as it began to transform. Both halves turned into rapiers with what used to be the middle of the shield becoming the hilts, and the blades made of the "Glass" parts. The blades were extra sharp and it was clear that they could be used very quickly. "There are perfect," Athena said smiling.

Ceres stood by the nearly broken down stairs at Zone B and took a look at every part of his Scorch Cannon. He summoned the Light and it began changing, becoming slightly smaller in size and the handle moving to the smallest part before extending out. It no longer looked like a cannon, but more like a flaming weapon for brute force. "Looks like I got a Scorch Club," Ceres said swinging it around a bit carelessly.

Chris stood in the building with a giant hole in the wall and threw his sword into the air, summoning some Light in the process. The sword quickly began transforming, with the Darkness of the blade moving to one side as the Light formed the other half of the blade. The hilt began growing longer as a mixture of Light and Darkness, and when he caught it the sword had turned into a deadly spear. "Hmph, this is very different but I can get used to it," Chris said.

The four of them all walked to the water-tower thing and saw each other's weapons. "Well, I know we're ready for this fight now," Valerie said.

"Yeah, all thanks to the Traveler. Nice weapon, Ceres, it looks really different," Athena said with a slight smirk.

"At least it's a lot better than yours, Vexy," Ceres replied making her blush.

"Well, I think we need to start out with our normal weapons. It will make the Fallen underestimate all of us, and then we can easily gain the upper hand," Chris said.

"Right. We should get some rest for tomorrow's fight," Valerie agreed.

"Yeah, I need something to eat too," Ceres replied smiling.

"You're always hungry, Ceres," Athena said as they all went to Chris' ship and headed back to the Tower. They all ate a quick meal before heading to bed and they were all rested for the battle the next day.


End file.
